Offshore Drilling and Exploration

News about Offshore Drilling and Exploration, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 19, 2015

Only 195 bids are placed for oil leases in central parts of Gulf of Mexico, signaling decline in interest in new oil and gas exploration due to low price of oil. MORE

Mar. 14, 2015

Seattle residents are up in arms over Port of Seattle lease agreement with Royal Dutch Shell that would allow the petrochemical giant to bring its Arctic Ocean drilling rigs to the city’s waterfront. MORE

Mar. 7, 2015

BP announces agreement to invest about $12 billion with partner to develop national gas resources in Egypt; project will develop quantity of offshore gas that is equivalent to around fourth of Egypt's current output and could be boon for Pres Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's government; agreement may signal that country's rocky relations with international oil industry are improving. MORE

Feb. 14, 2015

Federal Judge Nannette Jolivette Brown dismisses 2013 suit brought by Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East, which claimed energy companies' drilling and dredging led to erosion of state's coast and fragile wetlands and that restoration efforts were likely to cost some $50 billion in coming decades. MORE

Jan. 28, 2015

Interior Dept plans to open up large area of Atlantic Seaboard to oil and gas drilling, in move lauded by the industries and condemned by environmentalists; decision is latest installment of five-year proposal for government to sell leases for oil and gas drilling in federal waters from 2017 to 2022; administration will ban drilling in parts of Arctic Ocean. MORE

Jan. 27, 2015

Pres Obama's proposal to ban energy exploration on 12 million acres of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to be designated wilderness elicits angry and bitter reaction from Alaska residents and political leaders; Sen Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chairwoman of Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, calls announcement 'a stunning attack on our sovereignty.' MORE

Jan. 6, 2015

Joe Nocera Op-Ed column opposes Royal Dutch Shell's plan to continue oil exploration in the hazardous Arctic Sea, despite disaster that befell the Kulluk drilling rig in 2012; argues there are panoply of reasons to leave region's deep oil fields until a later date, when regulation, demand and technology will have improved. MORE

Jan. 4, 2015

McKenzie Funk article describes the failed attempt by Royal Dutch Shell to drill for oil in the US Chukchi Sea in the Arctic, after spending more than six years of effort and millions of dollars spent customizing Kulluk, extremely large oil rig, for the task. MORE

Dec. 20, 2014

North Sea oil producers in Great Britain are being hit hard by falling oil prices; low prices could mean many older oil and gas fields will be shut down, and $27 billion worth of new development could be dropped, threatening jobs of nearly half million workers in industry. MORE

Dec. 17, 2014

Pres Obama indefinitely bans oil and gas exploration of Alaska's Bristol Bay, signing executive memorandum to protect ecologically sensitive area that is home to variety of marine life; environmentalists praise decision to extend ban, which was set to expire in 2017. MORE

Oct. 29, 2014

Pemex, Mexico's state-owned oil giant, is counting on future in deepwater production; it hopes to shed its reputation as a lumbering monopoly and to remake itself into a streamlined company that can compete or ally with the world’s biggest firms. MORE

Oct. 8, 2014

Pres Nicos Anastasiades suspends talks on reunifying ethnically divided Cyprus in response to plans by Turkey to search for oil and gas in waters where Cyprus has already licensed companies to drill. MORE

Aug. 29, 2014

Royal Dutch Shell submits plan to the federal government, trying once again to explore for oil in the Alaskan Arctic following years of setbacks and dogged opposition from environmentalists; notes that it has not made final decision on whether to drill in the summer of 2015, but that filing preserves the option; proposal would consist of two rigs working simultaneously in the Chukchi Sea, which could produce more than 400,000 barrels a day. MORE

Aug. 10, 2014

Two-and-a-half month standoff over Chinese oil rig illustrates the long reach of China’s nautical ambitions, but broader issues over sovereignty in South China Sea, and who has rights to extract oil and gas in the region, remain far from resolved. MORE

Jul. 23, 2014

Exxon Mobil moves forward in its project assisting Russian state energy company Rosneft in exploring Arctic Ocean for oil and natural gas, even as pressure mounts to impose sanctions against Russia after downing of passenger airline in Ukraine. MORE

Jul. 19, 2014

Obama administration approves guidelines for seismic searches for oil and gas deposits in Atlantic Ocean, handing petroleum industry significant victory in bitter dispute with environmental groups over impact of such searches on marine life. MORE

Jul. 16, 2014

State-owned Chinese energy company announces that giant oil rig deployed in disputed waters off coast of Vietnam has completed its exploration work and will be moved. MORE

Jun. 20, 2014

Chinese government, one day after tough talks between Vietnam and China that made no progress over Chinese oil rig in South China Sea, says it is sending second rig to waters close to Vietnam; move is signal China will press ahead to secure what it sees as its rights in commercially and strategically vital waterway. MORE

Jun. 19, 2014

China and Vietnam exchange sharp views in their dispute over a Chinese oil rig deployed in contested waters in the South China Sea near Vietnam’s coast; China accuses Vietnam of interfering in operations and warns it will takes measures to ensure rig's safety; Vietnam says China has violated its sovereignty and breached regional and international agreements. MORE

Jun. 18, 2014

Pres Obama announces his intention to use executive authority to create the world’s largest marine protected area in the south-central Pacific Ocean; it is an effort to protect diverse habitats of coral reefs, whales, dolphins, sharks, sea turtles and numerous fish species from commercial fishing, offshore drilling and other activities. MORE

Jun. 6, 2014

Report from the Chemical Safety Board finds that another disastrous offshore oil well blowout could happen despite regulatory improvements following the 2010 explosion of a BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. MORE

May. 31, 2014

Norway's Coast Guard tows away Greenpeace ship that tried to block a Norwegian company's rig from drilling the world's most northerly oil well in the Barents Sea. MORE

May. 28, 2014

Chinese vessel rams and sinks Vietnamese fishing boat near Chinese oil rig parked in disputed waters off Vietnam's coast; nations trade accusations over incident, escalating tensions and aggravating diplomatic relationship that was already at its worst point in decades. MORE

May. 27, 2014

Chinese fishing vessel rams and sinks Vietnamese fishing boat near Chinese deepwater oil rig that was placed in disputed waters off coast of Vietnam; collision is likely to escalate already high tensions between the two countries over the oil rig. MORE

May. 24, 2014

Vietnamese woman sets herself on fire in downtown Ho Chi Minh City to protest China’s positioning of an oil rig in waters claimed by Vietnam. MORE

May. 18, 2014

Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine has given it maritime zone that is more than three times size of Crimean landmass, with rights to underwater resources potentially worth trillions of dollars; move has given Russia dominion over vast oil and gas reserves while dealing a crippling blow to Ukraine's hopes for energy independence. MORE

May. 18, 2014

Vietnamese officials signal that further violence over a dispute with China will not be tolerated, declaring that more than 300 people involved in attacks on foreign-owned businesses will be prosecuted; outburst of looting and arson that left scores of factories flattened in Vietnam was triggered by China's deployment of deep-sea oil rig in disputed waters of South China Sea off Vietnam's coast. MORE

May. 15, 2014

Thousands of Vietnamese workers rampage, setting fire to dozens of foreign-owned factories after China places an oil rig in disputed waters off Vietnam's coast without warning; riots mark a rare outpouring of popular outrage over China's increasingly insistent claims to strategically important, resource-rich seas; in their rage, however, Vietnamese workers appear to have misdirect their anger, attacking businesses from South Korea and Taiwan that took the risk of investing in their nation. MORE

May. 14, 2014

Thousands of workers rampage through an industrial area in southern Vietnam following protest against China's stationing of an oil rig in disputed waters off country's coast; territorial dispute has unleashed some of the worst civil unrest in recent years and has prompted what appears to be a news media blackout by the government. MORE

May. 13, 2014

China and Vietnam appear to have reached at least a temporary impasse over giant drilling rig sent by state-controlled Chinese oil company to site in South China Sea between Vietnam coast and cluster of disputed islands; confrontation continues to raise thorny issues of international law. MORE

May. 10, 2014

China inflames tensions with Vietnam by moving its first deepwater drilling rig to position about 17 miles off an island claimed by both countries in South China Sea; move signals that China is more willing to act first and invite diplomacy later in dealing with territorial claims. MORE

May. 7, 2014

Vietnam warns China that it will take all necessary measures to defend its interests in the South China Sea if China does not remove large oil rig from waters claimed by both countries; China's choice to station rig in disputed waters is widely seen as one of its most provocative steps in campaign to assert sovereignty. MORE

Apr. 17, 2014

Op-Ed article by policy experts S Elizabeth Birnbaum and Jacqueline Savitz charges that Obama administration has taken few steps, in wake of 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster in Gulf of Mexico, to prevent similar occurrence in future; holds drilling-related fiasco is likely to reoccur, and that prospect is exacerbated by expansion in offshore drilling and lag in safety technology; calls for increased safety measures and careful consideration of risks. MORE

Mar. 20, 2014

BP is highest bidder on 24 exploration blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, paying about $42 million; acquisition comes only days after United States lifted ban on new oil and gas leases for company. MORE

Mar. 15, 2014

Federal government is to auction off rights to new oil drilling sites, first since BP and Environmental Protection Agency reached settlement that lifts ban that prevented company from pursuing new leases and other government contracts; chance to add new drilling sites in Gulf of Mexico is milestone in company’s recovery from Deepwater Horizon disaster. MORE

Mar. 14, 2014

BP, four years removed from 2010 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion, reaches agreement with Environmental Protection Agency to seek new oil leases in Gulf of Mexico; bids are allowed only as long as company passes muster on ethics, corporate governance and safety procedures; agreement means hundreds of millions of dollars in new business for company. MORE

Feb. 28, 2014

Interior Department recommends that undersea seismic surveys proceed for oil and gas off Atlantic coast, though with safeguards to shield marine life; environmental activists say surveys will harm marine mammals, but other experts say those fears are inflated. MORE

Jan. 31, 2014

Crews lose control of a natural gas well being drilled off the Louisiana coast by EnVen Energy Ventures; officials say efforts are under way to stop the flow of the gas. MORE

Dec. 26, 2013

Russian investigators have dropped charges against all but one of 30 crew members of a Greenpeace ship, who were accused of hooliganism in connection with a protest at a Russian oil rig in the Arctic. MORE

Dec. 25, 2013

Russia grants pardon to Anthony Perrett, member of the crew of Arctic Sunrise, Greenpeace International ship seized on the open seas in September 2013; amnesty is expected to be extended to rest of the crew, drawing to a close one of the more contentious chapters in the organization’s history. MORE

Dec. 8, 2013

Op-Ed article by Prof Michael T Klare warns of the serious environmental and political issues that will arise as Arctic states begin to try to tap oil and gas reserves in the Arctic; suggests that countries devise and adopt an Arctic Treaty that would delineate the region's maritime boundaries, establish limits on military activities and impose environmental protections. MORE

Dec. 4, 2013

Arrest and prolonged detention of Greenpeace activists by Russian authorities has cast a light on the capriciousness of the country's legal system; although the 30 activists have been granted bail, the remarkably opaque criminal cases against them are far from over. MORE

Nov. 29, 2013

Russian court grants bail to the last of the 30 Greenpeace International activists arrested after a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. MORE

Nov. 24, 2013

Peter Willcox, American captain of Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise, is released from Russian prison on bail; relates story of how crew was arrested by Russian commandos while protesting oil drilling in Arctic. MORE

Nov. 20, 2013

Russian judges grant bail to nine more crew members of a Greenpeace International ship who were arrested after a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic. MORE

Nov. 19, 2013

Russian court grants bail to three of 30 crew members of a Greenpeace International ship seized during a protest against oil drilling in the Arctic in September; some see this as a first sign of leniency in an investigation that could continue through the Sochi Olympic Games. MORE

Nov. 13, 2013

Thirty people arrested after a Greenpeace protest at a Russian oil rig in the Arctic are transferred to prisons in St Petersburg, Russia. MORE

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The company, a leader in offshore drilling services, said it and Steven L. Newman, the chief executive, had agreed on his departure and that the board chairman, Ian C. Strachan, would become interim chief.